This is Nothing Like the Book
by Becca12345
Summary: Labyrinth Crossover! AU! When John Watson wishes away his baby sister, he is visited by the mysterious Sherlock Holmes who gives him 13 hours to save his sister. John reckoned it would just be like the story book. But it's much more complicated than that. With trouble around every corner, John must face hardships to get back his sister. And is Sherlock Holmes really the bad guy?
1. Chapter 1

There was nothing unusual about John Watson. He, like every other boy in the small town, was a avid rugby player. He was an average student in college, excelling in Science. John wanted to be an Army Doctor.

The only thing that could possibly be classed as unusual was the amount of time John would spend reading and his vivid imagination. John had also acquired a flair for dramatics, spending his time reenacting parts from different plays and books. He could most be found reciting lines from his favorite book.

_"The Labyrinth."_

It was a small red book with a leather cover. John had received it as a gift for his eighth birthday. The last gift from his Mother before she had died in a freak accident. Amy Watson had been an amateur actress on stage, and had taught John to read and act from a very young age. When John was upset, he turned to this book and took comfort in the story and it's characters. The book had quickly become John's prized possession.

So it was on this day in the middle of October, that John Watson could be found in the park, with the book, and reciting the lines in his head. The family dog, Hamish, sat at John's feet, sleeping.

_"Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the Castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child which you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great..."_

"Damn it. What is that last line?" John muttered to himself. He knew every line, except that one line. John picked up the small book from beside him and flicked through it.

"You have no power over me." John said out loud. He smiled. Hamish rose his head from John's side and barked. John turned to the dog and smiled, "Oh Hamish."

**_Bong._**

The sound of Big Ben could be heard. John looked at the time and color drained from his face.

"Oh fuck. Come on Hamish, it's seven O'clock." John got up, pulled on his shoes and started running, Hamish hot on his tail. Thunder rumbled from above and the heavens opened. Rain poured down, making John's white shirt cling to him.

"Almost there now Hamish." John said. If John had been paying attention to his surroundings, he would have noticed the black raven which was watching him from a tree. John continued to run, unaware of the raven following him. Finally John made it back to the house, only to be met with Louise, his Father's new girlfriend.

"Hi." John said sheepishly. Louise looked at him and stepped aside for John to enter. Hamish went to follow, but Louise stopped him. "Not the dog."

"But it's pouring" John protested.

"It's dry in the garage. Go on." John sighed and ushered Hamish into the garage, before pushing past Louise and peeling off his jacket.

"John, you're an hour late." Louise scolded.

"I'm sorry." John said, fluffing his hair, making bits of water drip on the floor.

"You're Father and I rarely go out.."

"You go out every single weekend." John said.

"I only ask you to babysit Harriet if it does not interfere with your plans or dates." John rolled his eyes. Oh here she goes. Of on why John should be dating. "I know you have girls chasing you John, you should really try and get one. What about that Mary? The amount of time you spend reading is not normal..."

John cut her off with a comment on how he is happy the way he is and it wasn't her business because he was not part of this family. Louise just huffed and turned on her heel, to switch of the kitchen light.

Daniel Watson walked past John with John's step-sister Harriet in his arms. Daniel looked at John and sighed.

"Oh John. Louise is trying her best. If you came down to her level, you two could get along.."

"Nope. Never going to happen Dad." John said. "I'm going to dry off." John made his way up the stairs and entered his room. Peeling off his white shirt, John shoved one of his warm jumpers on and changed into his old jeans. Toweling his hair dry, John heard a knock on his door.

"John. We're heading out now. I've put Harriet to bed. We'll be back at midnight."

"Whatever." John called back and looked at himself in the mirror. He was 19 years old, he shouldn't have to be stuck at home looking after a child. As if on cue, he heard loud cries coming from Harriet's nursery. John sighed and got up to tend to the screaming child.

"Shh..Shh.." John said, picking up the baby and rocking her in his arms. "Oh please be quiet Harriet." John scowled as Harriet continued to cry. "What do you want? A story? I'll tell you a story!"

"Once upon a time, a young girl lived in a castle. She had a wicked step mother who thought that she ruled this girl's life. Always wanting her to stay home with the crying baby and pestering the girl about dates. The poor girl was exhausted from her step-mother's nagging. So one night, when she'd gotten into a nasty argument and the step-mother had been particular cruel, the girl turned to an old friend for help. You see, the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl, and he had given her a single wish. If the girl desired, she could ask for the child to be taken away. The child would be taken from the girl and her life would return back to normal. No baby, no step-mother. But the girl knew, if she did, the Goblin King would keep the baby for himself, and turn it into a goblin. So on this particular night, when the girl was exhausted, she cried out to the Goblin King for help."

John trailed off as Harriet's cries got louder and louder. His head pounded and John groaned. "Oh Harriet. I wish you would not cry so loud. Please be quiet. I'll say the words.." John threatened. "I mean it Harriet. I will say them."

When Harriet continued to cry, John just put her back in her crib, tucked her in and walked out of the room, switching the lights off. Turning back to face the crib, John muttered the words.

"I wish the goblins would come and take you away. Right now."

* * *

**Author's Note: OK. So I have this awful thing called "I like to upload new stories whilst I have other stories in progress". Rest assured to my other readers, I have not abandoned my other stories, just taking a small break. Well anyway, I always did want to read a Labyrinth/Sherlock crossover and seeing as there wasn't many on offer, I decided to give it a shot. Reviews would be nice :)  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own nothing. Don't own Sherlock. Don't own the Labyrinth. Nope. **

* * *

John had started to make his way back to his room, when he realised it had gone quiet. Far too quiet for his liking. No way would Harriet go quiet that easily. John turned back around and softly took a hold of the door handle. He pushed it open and looked around the quiet room.

Thunder crashed outside and the rain hit the panes hard. John looked over to the crib. He couldn't see no movements. Heart in his throat, John made his way over and pulled the blanket back. Lightning lit up the room as John saw there was no baby in the crib.

_SMASH_

John whirled around in fright. What was that noise? He heard a bang and something brush past his leg. John let out a yelp and jumped into the air. Giggling could be heard and another smash met his ears. The windows rattled dangerously as the wind picked up outside. John turned around as the door slammed shut. He ran over, trying to open it, but it was no use. It was stuck fast.

A loud bang alerted John's attention as the widows flew open and a black raven flew in. John could only watch in horror as the raven morphed into a man. The man had pale white skin with sharp cheekbones, curly black hair and a captivating eye colour. He was dressed in a smart suit with a purple top that was much to tight, and held a riding crop in his left hand. John looked on as the man looked around before looking at John, with a powerful look.

"Who are you?" John asked. The figure let loose a low laugh.

"Come now John. Observe the scene. Clearly you do not know the character from your favorite book?" John's eyes widened. No. This couldn't be happening.

"You're...the Goblin King? But-but.." John couldn't get any words out. The figure in front of him, crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Sorry..but, but I thought you would look more like David Bowie."

"Who? Actually forget it. I trust you know why I am here." The Goblin King said. When John didn't answer, the King sighed. "You really are an idiot aren't you? I wouldn't have expected that from one of St Bart's top medical students."

"How did you.." John started to ask, but was cut off.

"Observation. Your jumper clearly says St Barts Medical School. You have a stiff shoulder due to a rugby incident, your build tells me that you are a rugby player and judging by your posture and hair cut, you wish to join the army in the current future, preferably as a medic, but you also do secretly wish to be trained to fight as well. You don't have a good relationship with your Step-Mother, which is another reason you wish to join the army." The Goblin King trailed off and looked at John.

"That. That was amazing." The Goblin King looked taken aback.

"People don't really say that to me."

"What do they say then?"

"Piss off or give me back my sibling." Oh shit. Harriet.

"Uh, yeah. About that. See I was telling her a bedtime story and I didn't mean it.."

"What's said is said." The Goblin King said, his face taking a passive look.

"Please, just give her back.."

"You know very well I can't do that John. You've read the book. You know the rules." The Goblin King said, messing about with the riding crop. "Look John, go back to your room. Read your books. Forget about Harriet. It'll all be back to normal tomorrow. No step-mother. Just you and your Father. Like you always wanted."

It was tempting and later on down the line, John would call himself the most selfish person to have lived for almost turning away and doing what the Goblin King said.

"Please. Just can I have her back.."

"John. I have powers you can't even imagine. So I warn you John, do not defy me." The Goblin King took a few strides forward and looked down at John, who gulped. A crooked smirk graced the Goblin King's features.

"You really want her back, don't you?" John could only nod, spellbound at this man's presence. "OK then. I'll give you a chance." The room around them vanished and John found himself standing on a hill, overlooking a giant labyrinth. The Goblin King pointed to a dark castle beyond the labyrinth.

"If you can make it through the labyrinth and make it to the castle within thirteen hours, you may take back the child. If not, your little Harriet will become one of mine and your Step-mother will stay in your life. And what a pity that would be." The Goblin King whispered in John's ear, before disappearing into thin air. John looked behind him and saw there was no way back to the room. He was stuck here. Stuck in his favorite book.

"Thirteen hours. I've read the book before. So it should not be that hard." John said. He straightened up and made his way towards the labyrinth.

John stopped as he came face to face with a giant door. He looked around for a key, but no avail. He sighed loudly.

"Excuse me." A voice said. John turned around to meet a man who was a bit taller than him. This man had slick black hair and a sly grin on his face. John backed up and pressed himself against the gate. "Jim Moriarty. Hi." The stranger held out a hand. John just looked at it warily.

"Let me guess. Sherlock Holmes stole your little sibling and you decided to be brave and retrieve it." The man, known as Jim Moriarty said.

"Sherlock Holmes? Who the bloody hell is Sherlock Holmes?" John said. Moriarty just let out a laugh.

"Oh my. You are a rare case. Sherlock Holmes is the infamous Goblin King. The one who stole your baby sister, let me guess."

"Yes. Yes. Oh I'm John Watson." John finally got his wits around him. "So what are you, someone like me?"

"Oh no. No. I am a subject of Sherlock Holmes. I man the gates" Moriarty waved a hand to the giant gates. "I'm also the one who is meant to meet the runners. You must be a very special case if Sherlock Holmes himself came to see you."

"OK. Well I have 13 hours. So, let's stop talking. How do I get into the Labyrinth?" John said. Moriarty just chuckled.

"You got to ask the gates of course. Ask the right questions. It's all about observation my dear John. " Moriarty said. John turned to look at the gates and examined them.

"Could you please let me into the labyrinth?" John felt remarkably stupid speaking to the gates, but got a surprise when they slowly creaked open. John turned to look for Moriarty, but found he had vanished. John shrugged and made his way into the dark labyrinth. He looked both ways. They all seemed the same.

"Frightening isn't it?" John yelped as Moriarty appeared beside him with a wicked grin. How did you do that?" Moriarty didn't say nothing. "So, which way do I go?"

"Observation Johnny boy. Look for what you want, not what you see." Moriarty then turned and walked out of the gates, slamming them shut behind him. The light vanished and John was left alone in the dark, cold labyrinth.

Turning to his right, John started to walk quickly. He tried to recall what the girl in his book had done. Oh how he wished he had that book with him right now. He continued on his way, kicking stones out of his path. The dark narrow way seemed to go on and on forever.

Eventually, John felt like he was going no where and growled at himself for being so stupid. He stopped walking and slumped down against the wall. Why did he do this? He was never going to get out of this place and save Harriet. Never.

"Hello dearie." A voice said in John's ear. John looked around for the source of the voice, but couldn't see anyone. "Down here dearie." John looked down to his right and saw a worm with golden hair.

"Did you just say hello?" John asked the worm.

"No, I said hello dearie. But that's close enough." John blinked a few times. A talking worm. He must be going mad. "What brings you here?"

"I'm looking for my sister. Sherlock Holmes took her." The worm seemed to shake its head.

"Oh Sherlock. He's a good person really." The worm said. "You just got to give him a chance."

"I'm sorry. Sherlock Holmes a good person? He kidnapped my sister." John said. The worm just looked up at him.

"Now, now. He's only doing what you asked." The worm scolded.

"You wouldn't happen to know a way out of this place would you?" The worm just shook it's head.

"I'm just a worm dear. Why don't you come inside and have a cup of tea?" John blinked again. Did a worm just really ask him if he wanted tea?

"I really have to find my sister thanks. But this place just seems to go on forever and ever."

"Well that's because you are not looking dear. Observation is key in this place. You've got to know what you are looking for. Look ahead for example." John looked at the wall opposite him. "Walk up and see for yourself." John got up and made his way over to the wall, feeling about and smiling as he found another walkway. He turned to the worm.

"Hey, it worked. Thanks." John made to go down the left, but was called back by the worm.

"Don't go that way dear. Never go left." The worm warned him.

"Oh, thanks." John said, turning right. The worm shook it's head.

"Oh Sherlock dear, I hope you know what you are doing with this one."

A dark shadow passed past the worm. "Oh don't worry Mrs Hudson. I know what I am doing."


End file.
